Indoor radon gas measurements and its cancer risk using radon-scout detector

In this study, radon (²²²Rn) gas concentration has been investigated in the indoor air of selected 30 homes in Baghdad city to estimate the Lung cancer risk. An active technique, the radon-scout detector, is used. The detector was placed in the middle of the living room at a height of nearly 1 m. The measuring time for each house is 7 days (166 h). The radon-scout detector measures the average exposure, maximum exposure, minimum exposure, temperature, and relative humidity (%). Results show that the average exposure in all homes is in the range from 14 ± 3 to 53 ± 4.9 Bq m^-3. The maximum exposure is 307 Bq m^-3, which is detected at houses1 (h1), the minimum exposure is zero, which is detected at all houses, the relative humidity ranges between 73% and 28%, the temperature ranges between 32 and 13 °C. All the estimated average radon exposures within the global limits of 200-300 Bq m^-3, except one reading detected at h1 (307 Bq m^-3), were slightly higher than the recommended limits. Based on measured results, the maximum potential energy of alpha concentration (PEAC) is 5.724 WLM estimated at h9, the exposure to radon progeny (EP) is ranged from 0.0623 to 0.235 WLM y^-1, the annual absorbed dose rate (D) is ranged from 0.35 to 1.34 × 10^-6 mSv y^-1, the annual effective dose rate (ED) is ranged from 0.35 to 3.2 mSv y^-1, and the lung cancer risk (LCR) is ranged between 15.1 and 57.8. Finally, it can be concluded that houses in Baghdad city are safe from radon gas as a second cause of lung cancer worldwide.